RawTalent wrote:In the same Gammons piece (a radio conversation), he calls Varitek the best player on the Red Sox and Ortiz the bigger offensive force than Manny. I'm alright with calling Varitek the leader of the team, even the heart and soul of the Red Sox or whatever epithet you want to attach to him, but the BEST player? This just goes to show how delusional Gammons is.

By the way, I don't see Gammons harping on about Mussina's huge salary, and his talent tailoring off. No, for Mussina, it's always--"That guy's so smart; he went to Stanford" or wherever it is that he went.

Of ALL the players who signed huge contracts in and around the years that Manny signed a huge contract, I'm willing to bet that Manny's has stood out as the best value among them. So Gammons should just shut his little trap.

Maybe not in that conversation, but I have seen Gammons come down on Mussina several times. Just because he didn't in that one conversation doesn't mean anything.

To clarify: worried about the batting average. If you look at Manny's other years recently he has been fairly consistent. Part of why you take Manny in the first round is that .315 average and his owners should be worried about him not being able to hit for a high average anymore. I'm not saying it will continue just saying that it should without a doubt be a concern to anyone paying attention. And I'm not comparing Vlad or Manny - just mentioned that I'm happy to have taken Vlad.

Bostonsportsmedia.com dug this up. This is from a Gammons article last December:

Take Manny Ramirez. He is the classic "bad contract." He cleared waivers a year ago and nearly got traded to the Mets. He also happens to be close to the best right-handed hitter in the game, he is a very nice person without any evil intent, he has the right priorities (a World Series ring and the Hall of Fame over the MVP) and by and large played very hard.

So when Gammons is asking Felger "who said that?" about Ramirez being called the best right-handed hitter in the game, the answer is Gammons, six months ago.

I'm not dying to move him or anything but throw some names at me that would be worth trading Manny for. Obviously give me guys that people would be willing to trade to acquire Manny... Outfielders preferably. I think he will turn it around but at this point, he's just not performing to expectations.